Honest question-has david stern ever donated to rutgers bball?

[higgins3]

This guy is an ex nba commissioner. Has to be worth a billion at least. Why can't he donate and why can't contact him to donate?As many of you, i am coming to the realization that unless we build a practice facility/get a new coach, we're going to be waiting some time before we're a respected program.


Who can we contact?Who do you think JH is talking to? How can we all come together and make the process quicker?Until then, beating will continue.

 

[higgins3]

Why can't we contact him to donate? He went here and made his living of off basketball!

 

[bac2therac]

maybe he has and he wishes to remain anonymous

 

[knights1212]

Someone stated a while back that Stern has donated to RU but didn't want his name announced. I also feel that Rutgers helped him get to where he got and if he is worth at least a billion he should consider donating the money for a new arena and a practice facility. It is always great to give back to where you came. He would be so much more respected if he stepped up in such a way. He would be giving the money for basketball too which is where he made his supposed fortune. How much money does anyone need to live comfortably? Plenty of other schools have huge benefactors why can't we have one. I'm sure many people would think so much more of David Stern. He would be looked upon as a real philanthropist. He could be like the latest Andrew Carnegie.

 

[superfan01]

His net worth is estimated at 135 million and that seems high. Where is this billion talk coming from. You people just make stuff up.

 

[RUMcMahon]

Stern is worth Billion dollars, i don't know about that (just seems very high). Would like to see Stern and our other prestigious alumni step up here.

 

[rutgersguy1]

A billion? How much do you guys think he got paid and how much do you think is spent on just living expenses etc... A billion is a lot of money, it's not just chump change and I'd be surprised if he's worth that much even after having been commissioner for so long. I think he might be worth in the 100-200M range but that's about it. If Goodell lasts long enough he may come close but that's because he's been paid an exorbitant amount. David Stern got paid well but I don't think that well.

 

[higgins3]

Wrong on how much he is worth. Apologies.

At least someone can contact him and get us started. Like you guys said, maybe he has and has remained anonymous. I trust JH is doing her job. We all know we'll be bottom feeders before we get a pf or a great coach here.

 

[higgins3]

JH should start here-

http://www.alumni.rutgers.edu/s/896/index.aspx?sid=896&gid=1&pgid=430

Most notable alumni.

 

[knights1212]

Even if he is only worth $100-200 million he could surely get us started in our fund raising. We need to set up a money thermometer at the RAC to watch our progress.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Everyone always talks about David Stern, Bernie Marcus, Greg Brown, Mark Fields the new Ford CEO, etc..but the one name I've always wondered about and have mentioned here before is Woody Johnson.

Although he's not an alum, his family has a history here in NJ and New Brunswick. I'm not talking about JNJ the company because they would never plaster their name on a sports facility or such. They donate alot to the academic side and I'm sure they make ad buys from the athletic department but probably nothing on a large scale. Woody the private citizen though is someone we know has some interest in sports and whose family has been part of New Brunswick. The hospital has the names of one of his ancestors on it, why not have his name on a sports facility. Outside of someone like Marcus he's about as big a whale as can be caught. He may not be an alum but for some reason I see him as the most realistic shot as our "Boone Pickens/Phil Knight."

 

[Knightmoves]

Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types.

 

[knights1212]

Why not Woody? Maybe he would be someone to help us out.

 

[MADHAT1]

Has any RU AD ever been able to get him to donate might be a good question.
This "has Stern ever donate " had come up when Pernetti was AD and probably goes back to the Mulcahy era.
So far no one has said they know David Stern has done something for Rutgers ( publicly or privately ) that I know of.

 

[golconda]

There was a recent article that said Tim Cook of Apple wants to give away his fortune; that sounds like a good source of funding to tap into. A new facility with an Apple symbol on it would be a drop in the bucket for that man.

 

[RUSONIC]

People need to worry about their own pocketbooks and keep your hands out of other peoples. You donate because you want to not because some idiot on a message board decides you have to much money. My guess is that Stern did not come to Rutgers on a free ride, payed his way and did well for himself. He doesn't owe Rutgers anything.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

exactly.......how many forms of cancer are there? how many people are abused and need help? how many people are starving in the world?

No one has any right telling someone how they should charitably give.

 

[ru66]

several years back RU gave out magazine type booklets listing by name, donors and amounts--he was listed and if I recall number was not impressive and he was not among top donors but more than 10000.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Originally posted by RUSONIC:
People need to worry about their own pocketbooks and keep your hands out of other peoples. You donate because you want to not because some idiot on a message board decides you have to much money. My guess is that Stern did not come to Rutgers on a free ride, payed his way and did well for himself. He doesn't owe Rutgers anything.

I think it's less about telling people what to do with their money and more about knowing that we need a large amount of private money to get the projects done we need to get done. So it's a discussion about who are likely sources to possibly tap and who may be interested in donating.

Frankly, most of the existing sources that are discussed here and that aren't even known here likely have been contacted multiple times over the years. Whether they donate or not isn't the point, of course it would be nice if they did, the point is who is out there that may be able to help us. The usual set of alums are always mentioned and most likely have been contacted. I've been saying I'm not sure how much more blood can be ground out of the existing stone so expanding the pool is necessary so that's why I bring up a name like Woody Johnson that isn't an alum but does have some logical connection to the school and sports in general. He too may have already been contacted, who knows. Marlene Tepper is another name I've brought up and she's donated to Mason Gross before but maybe she'd be willing to donate to athletics and maybe having 2 females leading the charge in fundraising may make her open to it, again who knows.

The point isn't about telling this wealthy person or that wealthy person what to do with their money, the point is discussing who is possibly out there that may have some logical connection to possibly being willing to donate to athletics. If we want to get many of these big projects done those are the types of donors necessary.

 

[higgins3]

Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types


Exact opposite, actually. I have a lot of faith in JH. Just wanted to have a conversation and identify some people who might be able to get the process moving quicker. Right now, we'll be the same team until we get a practice facility.

 

[higgins3]

" how many people are abused and need help?"


I think after you guys having 30 seasons of the same basketball product, there could be some that fall into this category.

 

[sailor41123]

the bigger question is have you ever donated....

Just think how much money could be raised if all alumni stepped up and gave $10 per month for 2 yrs..... that only 240 over two yrs.

how many alumni do we have..... our problem would be solved...RU gave you a good education and the jobs we hold is partly because of our education.... the education we received compared to other schools, even by NJ standards..... its time to step up and give back...

and yes I have given way over $240 and I did not graduate from RU, I just happened to like sports..... and yes its hard to be a RU football fan...

so alumni, instead of asking some one else to step up..... its time to step up your self and bring 2 or 3 of your class mates with you...

sorry if I stepped on toes, but I have a tendency to say the right thing but the wrong way..
go RU

 

[RUfinal4]

While asking these guys for money would be great there is another idea:

What about a day long seminar in the RAC for about 5000 people. The seminar will include these individuals speaking about what they learned in life to make them successful. In addition, they will field some questions from the audience. Then you can charge for the event with tiered pricing:

- $500 donation to be on the floor with a breakfast event with these guys
- $250 donation for 100 level seating
- $100 donation for upstairs seating

add ons:
- $50 to take a picture with all of them
- $50 to buy their books and get them to sign the book

 

[Knight_Light]

Originally posted by RUfinal4:
While asking these guys for money would be great there is another idea:

What about a day long seminar in the RAC for about 5000 people. The seminar will include these individuals speaking about what they learned in life to make them successful. In addition, they will field some questions from the audience. Then you can charge for the event with tiered pricing:

- $500 donation to be on the floor with a breakfast event with these guys
- $250 donation for 100 level seating
- $100 donation for upstairs seating

add ons:
- $50 to take a picture with all of them
- $50 to buy their books and get them to sign the book

Day long?

Might aim for a RU Celebration event for all sports (maybe 2 hours or so) and you might have better luck attracting an audience.

 

[knights1212]

I too am not a graduate of RU but am a huge fan as I support my home state school. I also contribute to RU and have season tickets for both football & basketball. I have attended B-Ball games since 1971 and have been at all but a handful of games at the RAC since it opened in 1977. I have had season tickets since 1989. I would have no problem at all with paying $10 a month for 2 years to get our facilities built. I would consider many plans once they were presented. I just feel that waiting until 2021 is way too long to wait. We need to see something rolling now. I still say if a plan was presented to the public and people saw dates listed progress could be seen. I've seen many times over the years organizations wanting something built and the raising of the money was shown on a money thermometer. I just think people need to see something on this proposed project.

 

[RUfinal4]

Originally posted by Knight_Light:

Originally posted by RUfinal4:
While asking these guys for money would be great there is another idea:

What about a day long seminar in the RAC for about 5000 people. The seminar will include these individuals speaking about what they learned in life to make them successful. In addition, they will field some questions from the audience. Then you can charge for the event with tiered pricing:

- $500 donation to be on the floor with a breakfast event with these guys
- $250 donation for 100 level seating
- $100 donation for upstairs seating

add ons:
- $50 to take a picture with all of them
- $50 to buy their books and get them to sign the book

Day long?

Might aim for a RU Celebration event for all sports (maybe 2 hours or so) and you might have better luck attracting an audience.

If you are bringing in C level executives to talk you want to give them 20-30 mins each to speak. if you have 4-5 of these individuals it will take the entire morning for them to share their speeches. Then after lunch would be the round table question and answer session.

People pay a lot more to go to motivational type seminars that have speakers who are much less qualified.

If it is successful it may become an annual, semiannual, or even quarterly type of event.

 

[Knight_Light]

Originally posted by RUfinal4:

Originally posted by Knight_Light:

Originally posted by RUfinal4:
While asking these guys for money would be great there is another idea:

What about a day long seminar in the RAC for about 5000 people. The seminar will include these individuals speaking about what they learned in life to make them successful. In addition, they will field some questions from the audience. Then you can charge for the event with tiered pricing:

- $500 donation to be on the floor with a breakfast event with these guys
- $250 donation for 100 level seating
- $100 donation for upstairs seating

add ons:
- $50 to take a picture with all of them
- $50 to buy their books and get them to sign the book

Day long?

Might aim for a RU Celebration event for all sports (maybe 2 hours or so) and you might have better luck attracting an audience.

If you are bringing in C level executives to talk you want to give them 20-30 mins each to speak. if you have 4-5 of these individuals it will take the entire morning for them to share their speeches. Then after lunch would be the round table question and answer session.

People pay a lot more to go to motivational type seminars that have speakers who are much less qualified.

If it is successful it may become an annual, semiannual, or even quarterly type of event.

Sitting in bleachers at the RAC for 8 hours?

For the prices above...one can attend seminars hosted by Disney, Ritz Carlton, etc...but in much more modern facilities.

 

[RUfinal4]

put it in the State Theater then? Audi lounge? Recruiting Lounge?

there are places to hold it. Suggested RAC because it can seat 5000.

 

[derleider]

Originally posted by Knightmoves:
Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types.

No AD or anyone else within RU has had any major success fundraising off of major donors. Tim, Fred, and Bob didn't either.

 

[Knightmoves]

Originally posted by derleider:

Originally posted by Knightmoves:
Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types.

No AD or anyone else within RU has had any major success fundraising off of major donors. Tim, Fred, and Bob didn't either.

Tim, Fred and Bob did not have a school membership in the B1G either. It's time to stop looking backwards and start acting like we're at the big boy table because that where we are. There has been no better fund raising opportunity at RU than the present.

if RU wants to run with the big dogs we need to stop pissing with the puppies.

 

[J.L. Gotrocks]

Stern has at least been involved in fund raising for RU (although I don't know about athletics, specifically). One year, sometime in the 1990s, I made my annual donation twice (moved the following year's up for tax reasons). Also, the company I worked for was doing a double match of donations that year. I received what appeared to be a personal letter from Stern, on NBA stationary, thanking me for my donation which he said was in the top 10% (or maybe 5%, or something like that) of all donations to RU that year. I remembered thinking that that was kind of sad as even with the company double match the total donated in my name wasn't all that much at all.

 

[bac2therac]

Originally posted by Knightmoves:

Originally posted by derleider:

Originally posted by Knightmoves:
Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types.

No AD or anyone else within RU has had any major success fundraising off of major donors. Tim, Fred, and Bob didn't either.

Tim, Fred and Bob did not have a school membership in the B1G either. It's time to stop looking backwards and start acting like we're at the big boy table because that where we are. There has been no better fund raising opportunity at RU than the present.

if RU wants to run with the big dogs we need to stop pissing with the puppies.

they did have membership in the greatest basketball conference of all time though and did absolutely nothing with it.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Originally posted by sailor41123:

the bigger question is have you ever donated....

Just think how much money could be raised if all alumni stepped up and gave $10 per month for 2 yrs..... that only 240 over two yrs.

how many alumni do we have..... our problem would be solved...RU gave you a good education and the jobs we hold is partly because of our education.... the education we received compared to other schools, even by NJ standards..... its time to step up and give back...

and yes I have given way over $240 and I did not graduate from RU, I just happened to like sports..... and yes its hard to be a RU football fan...

so alumni, instead of asking some one else to step up..... its time to step up your self and bring 2 or 3 of your class mates with you...

sorry if I stepped on toes, but I have a tendency to say the right thing but the wrong way..
go RU

I have no problem with what you said and yes I and I'm sure most others here donate as well. But I've repeated this before whether it's the hundreds or thousands of dollars, those kind of donations don't move the needle.

I've said this before but everyone keeps repeating this if such and such number of people donated this much see how much we could raise. Yes I get the arithmetic but that's just doing basic math, not looking how these things actually work in the real world and in practice. Major fundraising generally isn't done like that. The 10K project for the field hockey lockerroom yes, or 30K for RU Vision yes but a project costing in the 10s of millions no.

You'd have to make it as easy mindless and brainless as possible to have a shot at raising very large amounts from small donations. I've suggested some sort of app for RU related news with occasional notifications about possibly donating to the school. Tie it to a google play or iTunes account or credit with regular small donations and possibly bigger asks the farther along a graduate may be out of school etc...Point being it has to be something as easy as possible and automatic, along the lines of your 401K deductions which are easily/mindlessly taken out of your check and you never feel it and over the long haul a nice amount of money is amassed. So it's not exactly like that but in that vain in practice.

Again though it's the big whales that move the needle on these huge projects. Again Minnesota as the example. 70M raised for their sports complex and 40M came from 3 donations. 25M from Land O Lakes and 9M and 6M from two alums. 80M+ raised for the stadium with continued fundraising and that came from 2000 donations so an average of 40K per donation with the average likely greatly lifted by 6 and 7 figure donations. So it's just a discussion of the possible whales that may be "caught" not telling anyone what to do with their money. Like I said though, most of the people usually discussed here have likely been contacted multiple times over the years.

 

[Knightmoves]

Originally posted by Knightmoves:

Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types.

No AD or anyone else within RU has had any major success fundraising off of major donors. Tim, Fred, and Bob didn't either.

Tim, Fred and Bob did not have a school membership in the B1G either. It's time to stop looking backwards and start acting like we're at the big boy table because that where we are. There has been no better fund raising opportunity at RU than the present.

if RU wants to run with the big dogs we need to stop pissing with the puppies.

they did have membership in the greatest basketball conference of all time though and did absolutely nothing with it.

Is there a reason you're leaving out the financial impact of B1G FB ? Still setting the bar low for our current AD by saying she's no worse than her predecessors. That's a great argument, not.

 

[higgins3]

rutgers1, thank you for echoing my sentiment and my original intention. My intention wasn't to stir people up-it was to comment on the fact that we need big movers, and we need them fast. We all know this. Because without a great head coach or a practice facility- we will be in the same place we are right now. 10 win seasons.

When i get a chance to donate, I will. I do do things in the new brunswick community. During christmas time i made 70 pb and j's for the surrounding community. When i get my full time job out of college, I will donate. The fact is, some people that went to Rutgers some serious money, and we're in a desperate position.

Julie Hermann spoke, and I believe her. I just wanted to continue and have a conversation. I am sure she is doing the right things, and i wanted to have a conversation about potential donors. Everyone is entitled to do what they want with their money.

I have become more realistic with this program in just one year. I am still optimistic, but i have become more realistic. We have some players sure, but to really get to the next level-top 8 in the big, we need more court time for players. I have more court time available at the local y than these players do.

 

[PaKnight]

Years ago Stern was involved with RU fundraising. The annual letter requesting donations was signed by him.

I have to imagine that he has been a donor to RU.

 

[lwyrup]

Is this a serious thread? David Stern, and whoever else, should do whatever they want with their own money.

 

[MADHAT1]

Originally posted by Knightmoves:
Originally posted by Knightmoves:

Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types.

No AD or anyone else within RU has had any major success fundraising off of major donors. Tim, Fred, and Bob didn't either.

Tim, Fred and Bob did not have a school membership in the B1G either. It's time to stop looking backwards and start acting like we're at the big boy table because that where we are. There has been no better fund raising opportunity at RU than the present.

if RU wants to run with the big dogs we need to stop pissing with the puppies.

they did have membership in the greatest basketball conference of all time though and did absolutely nothing with it.

Is there a reason you're leaving out the financial impact of B1G FB ? Still setting the bar low for our current AD by saying she's no worse than her predecessors. That's a great argument, not.

Yes. The loss of funds from the subsides being eliminated are being covered by the partial B1G revenue ( full share not till 2021) Rutgers is receiving.
What was being gained financially from what RU received from the BIG compared to what it received from the AAC is far less because of substies being eliminated .
So the bar wasn't lessened , but raised higher if you consider the Athletic Derpartment's marching orders from Barchi
and the do more with less , than should be, job Hermann has to deal with.

Mulcahy had the backing from McCormick, but the MBB program didn't have him putting money in it.

Pernetti talked about doing something, but never was able to follow through because of Barchi telling him to start cutting subsidies from his operating budget.

Hermann is attempting to improve all RU sports without having enough finances to fix what's needed.
So the bar for success has been raised higher than Mulcahy had because of finances she has available, even the partial revenue share RU's getting from the B1G doesn't come close to what Mulcahy was allowed to do to get the funds needed for the football stadium expansion.
Barchi will not let the current RU AD to even take out a Payday loan to start upgrading the basketball facilities.
So I think I made a great argument, because of what she has to work with and how the partial B1G revenue isn't
as good as you think it is, because it is being used to make up for the funding Barchi is taking from the Athletic Department's budget.

 

[higgins3]

Lwyrup, i stated that everyone is entitled to do what they want. The point of this thread is to talk about potential alum who might be in a position to donate money that can get the ball rolling. David stern came to mind because he worked hard to make a living off of basketball.

I am just thinking about potential donors JH might have in mind. I don't know who is she is talking to right now.

 

[bac2therac]

Originally posted by Knightmoves:
Originally posted by Knightmoves:

Sounds like higgins3 has very little faith in our AD's ability to fund raise from major donor types.

No AD or anyone else within RU has had any major success fundraising off of major donors. Tim, Fred, and Bob didn't either.

Tim, Fred and Bob did not have a school membership in the B1G either. It's time to stop looking backwards and start acting like we're at the big boy table because that where we are. There has been no better fund raising opportunity at RU than the present.

if RU wants to run with the big dogs we need to stop pissing with the puppies.

they did have membership in the greatest basketball conference of all time though and did absolutely nothing with it.

Is there a reason you're leaving out the financial impact of B1G FB ? Still setting the bar low for our current AD by saying she's no worse than her predecessors. That's a great argument, not.

we are making slightly more than we were a couple years ago...secondly I didn't make the argument that she is no worse, that wasn't me...and she is not since athletic fundraising is up.